"Shit"wan

The Chitwan National Park, in the Southern plains, is one of the last remaining sanctuaries of the one-horned Asian rhino.  The tourist bus stopped a few km short of town, on a dirt patch nowhere.  We were let out into the melee of annoying taxis and hotel touts (good scam, as it was clear that no one would be lodging on that dirt patch…).  In Sauraha, every place was a permutation of jungle, safari, lodge, view, etc.  All the agencies tried to sell exactly the same program, even with the same boring sounding “canoe trip and jungle trek” drone.  They had fixed the prices of everything.  The electricity was out and it was dark most areas.  There was horse and elephant dung all over the streets…

After a restless night of listening to the rodents’ scratching noises, we switched cottages and visited the Elephant Breeding Centre.  The main attraction were the month-old newborn twins, but the 3 km walk took us by bright yellow mustard fields shrouded in morning fog and the rustic dwellings of the native Tharu people.

Back in town, it was elephant bath time by the river.  Between 12 and 1 pm, all the elephants marched into the water for their daily scrub down.  For a fee you could join in for the dunking.

A small Mahindra “Jeep” took 7 of us, plus driver and guide, through the single track dirt road deep into the Chitwan forest.  The vegetation was dense and the grass tall, so I did not expect to see much.  First we came upon a peacock, then several marsh mugger crocs sunning on the edge of the lake, but for the rest of an hour, not much.  Then, there it was – a big solitary rhino warily grazing in a patch of grass.  We spotted a few monkeys and wild pigs, then another rhino in the middle of an exposed watering hole.  Impressive. 

The elephant-ride safari is quite popular in Chitwan, so the last day we joined a trip.  The remarkably tolerant wildlife hardly flinched when we came close – even the deer hung around a little while before rushing off.  We saw a few more rhinos, including a mother and juvenile, and the forest was quite pristine.  However, the ride was fairly uncomfortable and they managed to cram in way too many people on top of the elephant.

Pictures